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…i am still getting e-mails from fans, and questions from out-of-town reporters, regarding the 20 percent hike in ticket prices for Shea Stadium next season…as i said at the time, it’s quite gutsy, and while it will certainly keep me from attending as many games as i did last season, i understand why they’re doing it…especially since, i bet, they still end up breaking last season’s attendance mark…
In the Star-Ledger, Dan Graziano writes…
“The problem isn’t that the prices are going up. The problem is that the Mets’ front office hasn’t done anything this winter to justify it.”
…at the same time, though, if the Mets do or do not acquire Johan Santana, the average fan’s income isn’t going to change…that, plus ticket prices, is why some fans will not be going to as many games next season…it’s not that we lack motivation…believe me, last year’s fan still wants to go to shea this coming season, he just can’t afford it now…santana or no santana isn’t going to magically give people more money to spend at a baseball game…
By the way, according to local reports from their respective markets, the Yankees, Mariners, Angels, Nationals, Rockies, Reds, Astros, Cardinals, Brewers, Orioles, Red Sox, Cubs and Royals, among others, will all raise ticket prices an average of 15 percent next season.
…the Royals and O’s each won 69 games last season, and they’re raising ticket prices…now that is absurd…
…fact is, despite ticket prices, $5 hot dogs and $20 parking, baseball is in high demand right now, stadiums are shrinking their seating capacity, the game is making money hand over fist, stadiums are selling out, and we’re all still paying to be part of it…my point, though, is at what level do we reach a tipping point and simply stop going because it is no longer affordable…for some, it could very well be right now…and i hope baseball knows this…because, speaking as a passionate, die-hard fan, regardless of money, i have no interest in going to a stadium that is full of polite, disinterested people who have no interest in who wins or loses…you know, like Yankee Stadium in October…i’d just as soon watch from home at that point, i’m sad to say…
I really don’t think critical mass will ever happen here. Corporate seats will keep pushing the regular fan up and up, til there’s eventually two rows in the upper deck where a regular guy with a family of four can afford to come see a game. Basically how the entire city’s going.
Did anyone buy Seven Pack tickets on Tuesday? I logged on at exactly 10am and ordered the Shea Goodbye Pack. The best seats available were sec 861 about as far into rightfield as you can get. I bought them anyway because I wanted that last game at Shea but what a crock. Do they start from the corners and work their way to the middle?
While the Mets try to get partial plan holders to upgrade to season tickets, the Yankees will be notifying all of their plan holders (full season and partial season) in early 2008 of their respective seat relocation status for the new Yankee stadium.
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/nyy/ticketing/sth_renewal_letter.jsp
The Mets are justifield for raising prices because it is a business, not a charity for the die hard fans. Trust me, I am one of those die hard fans. I will probably only attend one game this year as I have done the last several. The fact the Mets tanked in September has nothing to do with economics unless fans stay away in droves. That will not happen. For every fan that boycotts there will be on to take their place. If that weren’t true then why is the Garden still packed when the Knicks play. Now had the Mets been truly an awful team raising prices would have been a bad move. But the Mets are a contending team dispite the collapse. Contending baseball teams in New York will always draw. Personally I would hope attendance suffers to drive down prices but I would be extremely shocked if that happend. BTW Mets tickets are still cheaper than Yankee tickets. For that matter they will remain the cheapest seats of all pro sports in NY.
I used to live in the city..and this is one of the reasons I left the area..everything is just too darn expensive up there.. Mets tix are just a barometer of how everything else is going
Frankly, as an upstate fan with a modest income, Shea’s already out of my price range. Once you factor in gas, tolls, parking, etc. one game really strains the budget.
It’s extremely unlikely that I’ll be able to afford to make it to any games next year, and CitiField’s pretty much a pipe dream.
I guess there’s always Binghamton …
At least you’ll get to see F-Mart before he undergoes a metamorphasis into Johan Santana.
Is that breaking news? Where did you get it!!?!?! damnit answer me!!!
Why isn’t Cerrone on this?
Guys breaking news!!! FMART to be included in package for Johan!!!!!!
And the rumor mill begins….next thing you know, the Twins Blog will be saying that Fernando Martinez is Santa.
i have no interest in going to a stadium that is full of polite, disinterested people who have no interest in who wins or loses…you know, like Yankee Stadium in October
I hate the Yankees and I certainly hate their fans, but Yankee stadium is usually rockin in October.
ooops on the italics….meant them only for Matt’s comment.
I agree. I root against the Yankees every year in October. But every year since 1995 they have been playing Playoff Baseball to packed houses that go nuts.
Maybe Cerrone missed the D’backs series where they were chanting Paul O’Neill’s name or those comeback games where the cameras were shaking. The place was crazy during the 2003 WS too. The only times they’re disinterested is when the Yanks are crapping the bed like they did aginst the Sox in ‘04, the Tigres last year and Indians in game 4 this year. Shea was pretty quiet when Beltran watched that curve land for a called strike 3.
Let’s hate on the Yanks all we want. But they sell out nearly every game and they’ve made the playoffs every year for more than a decade. We’d be thrilled for back to back playoff appearances.
Disgraceful, especially after MLB’s “record” earnings last year.
When this was brought up a few days ago there was a long debate about supply and demand and since how the supply is staying the same (and soon will be decreasing) and demand is at an all time high, that of course prices are going to go up. What I don’t remember anyone mentioning though is that for a normal product or service in a capitalist economy there is competition from other companys to keep prices low, however, with baseball this is not the case. In fact it is only the exemptions the government gives them from normal anti-monopoly laws that allows them to operate in the manner that they do. So my question is if prices continue to rise much faster than the rate of inflation and it gets to the point where the majority of people cant afford to go any longer, will the government do something along the lines of putting regulations on ticket price hikes? What baseball (and all sports for that matter) are doing right now is the exact reason there are anti-monopoly laws to begin with and if they are taking advantage of the fans because of their special exemption it is every bit the governments responsibility to put a stop to it IMO.
Nice post Matt. As a new husband and expectant father, i can’t renew my 7 game plan. Granted, thats with or without the 20% hike but i’m sure i’ll make it to a few games this season.
Even when i was younger i would score some free tickets here and there, mostly from disinterested corporate types. IMHO, the game environment, the number of games in a season, the season in which it is played, and the proximity of the stadiums still makes baseball the most family friendly sport, and i don’t see that changing any time soon.
Sure Jr., may not get out to as many games cause his old man can’t afford it, but won’t that just make the ones he does get to that much more special?
According to John Delcos, the Yankees are raising some ticket prices by more than 50%!
But I guess that’s OK for Mr. Met, because after all, the Yankees won all of 1 game in the playoffs this year. Just 1 more postseason game than the Mets. So their unrivaled (and roided up) success justifies them “yanking” up prices.
:roll:
so nice to think that since ticket prices are a function of the business model that the front office accountants come up with that will maximize profits, some nerd had to adjust the formula to account for how pissed off this would make everyone. i wonder how they do that.
too bad museums are so friggin boring or i’d just go to them instead.
Ha!
new shea attendance record: $97m in gate receipts
sny, concessions, etc: $120m in revenue
*fan walk brick with mets logo: $395 each
raising ticket prices 20% at holiday time: priceless
revenue: $217m minus payroll & operating costs = $67.3m in profits
*disclaimer: to wilpon’s personal charity to be distributed by paris)
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/33/07mlb_New-York-Mets_334564.html
happy holidays to everyone in mets land!
hah – nice link zen. i wonder how close forbes gets to nailing their actual revenue and operating expenses. how much fun would it be to get your hands on their ACTUAL operating budget?
oh my god did i just say that? christ, i AM that lame.
It is not as accurate as people think. Baseball hides so much money it is unbelievable. The reason? They have anti-trust exemption. They do not have to open the books to anyone.
That 20% is an average increase. My Tues/Fri plan went up over 28% for 2008, compared to just under 16% for 2007. True the Mets home opener falls on a Tuesday next year, so that accounts for some of the increase, but by and large there’s no justification for it. Factor in the probability that prices will probably go up another 20% for 2009 and the only way the average Joe is going to see a live game is through corporate charity.
I hope there is a special place in hell for MLB owners.
Not sure where your seats are but I think the increase is closer to 20% if you factor in that the 2008 Tuesday/Friday Plan includes 26 games as opposed the 25 games it included in 2007. The rest of your point, however,still stands.
Ah, I thought it was 25, but you’re right – it is 26.
Still, that’s a 23.3% increase over last year.
Saturday plans are going up from $370 last year to $467 this year. Thats more than 25%.
OK…so don’t go to the ballpark. They’ll be just as happy to collect the advertising dollars.
Rule # 1: Fleece the fans
Rule #2: P!SS on the fans and tell them it’s raining
Rule #3: See rule #1
My anger is getting to the levels of the ‘94 strike year.
Wow! Those are very steep price increases. This may lower MLB attendance figures a little. The economy is teetering on the edge and people’s houses are worth 20% less then 2 years ago. Not a great environment for double digit price hikes.
Hey, I understand some fans are unhappy with rising ticket prices, but please try to stick to the facts. According to Forbes, the Mets’ operating income was $24 million in 2006. It’s total fiction there was $67M in profits.
Most important, the Mets had the highest debt ratio in the majors. But I guess that doesn’t matter to fans in this credit card age. Just charge everything! The hell with tomorrow.
i gave facts and a link. you gave nothing.
ah, yes. the mets had the #5 highest profits at $24.4m (of course that doesn’t account for the brooklyn cyclones which they own among other income for the team)
the yankees were last income: minus -25.2m
no wonder they have been in the playoffs the last 13 years with 6 ws appearances and 4 titles
the debt is from citifield. it doesn’t include income from naming rights yet + $120m+ from tax payers for infrastructure around the stadium!
mets are among the tops in mlb. in income that is…
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/33/07mlb_The-Business-Of-Baseball_Income.html
This is what you gave:
$67.3m in profits
That is a lie. That is NOT what the link you gave says.
I used the Forbes numbers. Which gives their operating income at $24M. And that’s before interest and taxes.
I gave the truth. And facts from the same source you used. But you made up your numbers.
What you don’t mention is that the Mets had the highest debt ratio in the majors. And that the Mets spent proportionally the same amount of their revenues on their team payroll as the Yankees did!
And, of course, spending a lot of money, from their larger revenues, had a lot to do with the Yankees’ success. But they also used roids. Probably more than any team in major league baseball did!
So, I guess maybe you’re suggesting Wright, Beltran, Pedro, and Maine should all start shooting up too? That surely would put them on more equal footing with those marvelous roided-out Bombers of the last 10 years.
And of course the debt is from Citifield. But someone has to pay it! That’s why they are raising prices. And no, they do not get $120 million for infrastructure. The city itself is spending that money for improvements around the ballpark. The Mets don’t get that money, nor do they control it. Geez. Way to spin a story!
Citifield.
Cost: $600 million ($444.4 million for the stadium, and the remainder for infrastructure)
PUBLIC financing: $89.7 million in capital funds from the city and $74.7 million in rent credits from the state
20 years $400m from naming right (citicorp)
so the mets cost is paid by citicorp and $150+ (i was low on estimate) is paid by the PUBLIC
why do ticket prices need to go up? that’s the $600m
http://www.ballparks.com/baseball/national/nymbpk.htm
it’s nice to have anti-trust status and a govenment- approved monopoly. that’s not capitalism…
suppy and demand? how about the 10,000-15,000 empty seats during the best attendance seasons?
gotta run. we can agree to disagree.
I’m wondering how in NYC the concept of ‘Supply and Demand’ seems to be so elusive to people. Does it suck that the prices are rising across the board? Yes. Will people(including myself) continue to attend games? Yes. Why you ask? Cause I love baseball and I love the Mets, and unfortunatley there is only one place to see them play. Don’t hold it against these teams that they have us by the short and curleys. Blame yourself that you still love a kids game so much, and that you are so passionate about a team that you are willing to pay more that you should(or can afford) to see a bunch of guys that wouldnt care if you had cancer. I almost have to say that baseball has been practicing bad business until now. If it was me the second it was called ‘America’s Pasttime’ I would have been charging people through the nose. At the bare minimum at least you are paying to see the best players in the world play the game you love. No more, no less. At least I know exactly what I’m getting(outside of performance, but thats impossible to determine beforehand). I’d still rather pay $20 to see a crappy baseball game over some Hollywood blockbuster that was made just for the release of the DVD, or $100 to go to a concert where its clear the band is just going through the motions. At least you cant ‘fake’ baseball. You wont have be in MLB for long if you’re not performing. Once something is established, and/or people rely on it as an escape or are completely loyal to it, then its the sellers God given right as an American to suck every penny they can get for it. No ones putting any guns to anyones head. Its not the Wilpons’ fault that we are die-hard fans of a ‘business’ they happen to own…..Everyone needs to grow up…..
Do VCaver’s numbers take into consideration SNY?
My numbers come directly from Forbes. Take a look at the link zen posted. They are from the same source zen used. Only he posted incorrect profit numbers.
And Forbes undoubtedly used SNY revenue.
you also have to cosider equity. the value of the team has gone from $391m to $736m since 2002 since wilpon was the sole owner
that’s $69m per year and we all know cuban would buy the team for more than $736m
Equity is only on paper. You can’t meet the payroll with equity … unless you continue to borrow and get into deeper debt.
equity is an essential part of a business portfolio. it has nothing to do with meeting payroll for the mets. they meet it + make $25m profit.
My point is that equity is on paper and you can’t use it to meet payroll. It could help them get into more debt in order to meet the payroll, but that’s about it.
And that $24M figure is BEFORE taxes and interest. So even that figure is wrong if you’re using it for profits. . It is accurate to call it operating income as Forbes does, but totally misleading to even call it profit.
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